When Opposites Attract
by grrawr
Summary: Neville and Luna are as opposite as opposite can be, but opposites attract, right? My first het-fic.


**Disclaimer: **Harry Potter, the world and its characters all belong to J.K. Rowling. I own nothing, and make no profit, no copyright infringement is intended. A bit of original text taken for consistency's sake.

A special thanks to my wonderful beta **unsuspected**

I first saw her third year. It was her long, dirty blonde hair that attracted my attention, as it stuck out amongst the black robes in the Great Hall. She seemed perfectly at ease amidst the crowd and paid no mind to the hushed whispers and snorts that were directed towards her. Although she sat alone at the Ravenclaw table, she smiled as she ate her breakfast. She wore what appeared to be red- apples, no, radishes, maybe- that dangled from her ears and a butterbeer cap necklace around her willowy neck. It wasn't until later that I learned her name- Luna Lovegood.

Luna was everything I was not- slender as I was broad, light haired as mine was dark, and not afraid to stand out while I tried my best to blend in. My lack of courage often led me to question my placement in Gryffindor; I could never garner the nerve to talk to her, so I mostly admired her from afar. I found myself wishing we were in the same house, or at least in the same year, so that I could fabricate some excuse to strike up a conversation and get to know her better.

It wasn't until my fifth year that our paths finally crossed. As usual, I'd forgotten a few things and was scrambling to grab them before Gran and I left, making me nearly miss the Hogwarts Express. By the time I boarded,, every compartment was filled except for hers. Not having the courage to open the door and join her, I wandered around for a bit until running into Harry and Ginny.

"Hi Harry, hi Ginny," I began, "Every where's full, I can't find a seat."

"What're you talking about?" Ginny asked, pushing past me to peer into Luna's compartment. "There's room in this one,"

My cheeks flushed as I thought of the girl inside, "I-I don't want to be a bother to her, and-"

"Don't be silly," Ginny laughed, "She's all right."

_She's more than all right,_ I thought to myself, _she's brilliant, she's stunning, she's amazing, she's-_ The sound of the compartment door sliding open brought me out of my thoughts. I followed Ginny and Harry inside the carriage, trying to ignore the rapid pounding of my heart.

"Hey Luna, is it okay if we take these seats?" Ginny asked. Luna looked up from a copy of the Quibbler that she appeared to be reading upside-down. As she glanced over at us, I quickly became interested in whatever Trevor was doing, which was, as usual, nothing. "Thanks," I heard Ginny say. I looked back up and accidentally caught Luna's eye. Desperately trying to conceal my rising blush, I hurriedly turned away to stow my trunk on the luggage rack. After doing so, I sat down and tuned out of the conversation, mostly concentrating on keeping my heart from leaping out of my chest.

Her dreamy voice brought me out of my haze. "You're Harry Potter."

"I know I am," Harry replied slowly. I chuckled, taking delight in her adorable sense of peculiarity.

"I don't know who you are," she added, turning towards me.

My heart sank a little as I realized she hadn't even known my name. "I-I'm nobody," I said quietly, painfully aware of this reality. There were the proper students like Hermione, the funny kids like Ron, the pranksters like the Weasley twins, the pretty girls like Lavender or the Patil twins, the true Gryffindors like Harry- and then there was me.

"You're not a nobody," Ginny reprimanded sharply, "Neville Longbottom- Luna Lovegood. Luna's in my year but Ravenclaw." I'd already know that, but nodded my head as if it were new information.

Luna titled her head at me and smiled as I felt my breath hitch and my palms grow sweaty. "Wit beyond measure is man's greatest treasure," She sang. Her voice was soft and melodic and I would have gladly listened to her for ages.

We sat in a silence for a while until I spoke up, eager to show off my birthday present. "It's a _Mimbulus mimbletonia_," I announced proudly, "It's really, really rare. I don't know if there's one in the greenhouse at Hogwarts, even." I tried not to shake as I noticed Luna's eyes appear over the top of her magazine.

"Does it…uh…do anything?" Harry asked.

"Oh, loads of stuff," I cried, perhaps a little too loudly, dumping Trevor into his lap and digging through my bad for a quill. Lifting the plant to eye level, I prodded it gently, causing Stinksap to spray from each boil. "S-sorry," I gasped, wiping it out of my eyes, "Never tried it before. Didn't realize it would be quite so…" Harry groaned and Ginny, too, seemed upset. I kept my eyes on my mimbulus, wishing I could go back so that this wouldn't be her first memory of me. When I finally looked up, I found Luna looking as serene as ever, her wand safely behind her ear and butterbeer cap necklace grime free, thanks to Ginny's scourgify. I opened my mouth hesitantly to apologize to Luna, but before I could, she lowered her magazine and grinned at me, her blue eyes sparkling in delight. Perhaps it wasn't such a bad first impression after all.

I had never been good at spells, as any of my Professors could have told you, and normally dreaded Potions, Charms, and Defense against the Dark Arts. D.A. changed that. It was nice, really- not only did we get to practice our defensive spells, but I had an excuse to talk to Luna. My pulse would be racing and my mind would be screaming at me to not to make an utter fool of myself, but I was thoroughly entranced by her. It was an odd sort of peace that I grew to crave.

"Er- Luna," I said as we left the Room of Requirement after a D.A. meeting.

She turned and looked up at me, her dreamy eyes as clear as the lake, "Yes?"

I had spent the majority of the meeting trying to work up the nerve to actually ask her out, and now that I had, I didn't know what to say. "Erm, would you - if you aren't busy- want to go with me to Hogsmeade next weekend?" I rattled off breathlessly. I felt my knees weaken in anticipation as she broke eye contact then looked back at me.

"What a wonderful proposal," she said, beaming, "I'd love to." I let out a breath I didn't know I was holding.

"I-I'll see you at eleven then," I stuttered, excitedly, inwardly cursing myself for tripping over such simple words. She smiled serenely, and then walked away, leaving me standing there, shocked and exhilarated. I felt invincible for the rest of the night.

Dating Luna Lovegood proved to be more difficult that I'd thought. Her quirky personality was endearing to me, but the subject of mockery by many others. "Couldn't we just, y'know, go to the Three Broomsticks for once?" I asked.

"But Neville, you know there are Nargles there. Haven't you any sense?" She looked at me and shook her head, "Hog's Head is much safer."

I frowned, frustrated, "Look, I'm sorry I just wanted to go where all our friends are. Maybe you care about the Nargles, but I don't." Her eyes grew wide as I instantly regretted what I had said. "L-look, I'm sorry Luna, I didn't mean it; you know that." She unlaced her hand from mine and pulled away, sitting down in the snow banks along the side of the road. "Luna, what're you doing?" I asked.

"Sitting, Neville, what does it look like I'm doing?" She replied calmly, as she leaned back into the frosty ground, "You may go into the Three Broomsticks if you'd like. I'm sure that Ginny and the others will be more than happy to see you."

"Luna, please get up, you're going to catch a cold," I begged. She closed her eyes and smiled, humming a long forgotten tune. "Luna, people are staring again," I hissed quietly.

She opened her eyes and stared blankly at me, "So?"

I repeated the same answer I'd always given her, "It's just, I don't like attention."

"I'm not going to change who I am," she said slowly as she sat up, her voice clearer than it had ever been, "I can't be like Lavender or Hermione, that's just not me. And, and I'm sure that's what you want, someone more normal, but-"

I shook my head emphatically, ashamed of myself for making her think that. "You're exactly what I want." I said, "You push me out of my comfort zone, get me to do thing I'd never do, not even for a million Galleons. You take life by the moment and savour each minute. You should never apologize for being you." She looked up and smiled, the serenity restored in her eyes. "C'mon," I said, holding out my hand, "Let's go get some butterbeer at Hog's Head,"

"No!" she cried, shaking her head frantically.

"Now what?" I asked, trying to mask my exasperation.

"We're going to Three Broomsticks," Luna declared matter-of-factly.

I stared at her in amazement and watched as my growing smile was mirrored on her face. She grabbed my hand and I helped her up, pulling her close to my side as we walked towards the Three Broomsticks. For once, I didn't care if they stared.


End file.
